


Dreaming of Summer

by bewaretheboojum



Category: Batman (Comics), DCU, DCU (Comics)
Genre: Cuddling & Snuggling, Fluff, M/M, Sleepy Cuddles
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-28
Updated: 2019-03-28
Packaged: 2019-12-26 01:00:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,074
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18272594
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bewaretheboojum/pseuds/bewaretheboojum
Summary: During No Man’s Land, Dick and Tim take a break from patrol for some much needed rest.





	Dreaming of Summer

Tim felt his foot catch on the stone edge that jutted up from the roof of the building he was trying to land on. Tripping through the touchdown on the downswing of his grapple, Tim caught himself a millisecond before he took a header into the cement roof of the building.

Standing up straight and recoiling the rope of his grapple gun, Tim felt a wash of fatigue flow over him. Shaking his head, he walked to the edge of the building and looked over the side. Silently reproaching himself, trying to see what could have happened if he hadn’t caught himself.

Dusk was just falling over Gotham City. The sentries the gangs had put out to watch the street corners that lined their territory in No Man's Land were just starting to eye each other tiredly. Several of them were already abandoning their posts for the night and heading back to their hidey holes to get what little food they could find and some sleep.

Tim couldn't blame them. It was late winter and while the days in Gotham City were getting longer, they weren't getting any warmer. The constant stress of trying to stay warm was exhausting Tim even more than the patrols he had been assigned.

The lack of food didn't help. Tim had been trying to skip as many meals as he could manage to preserve their stores for as long as possible. He could tell the fatigue he was feeling now was impacting his reflexes and response times. It was probably time for Tim to head back to a nest for the night as well. Maybe sleep would help.

There wasn't time to make it back to Batman’s territory before full dark and with Tim's response times as slow as they were, it was probably better for him not to try to make it back. The last thing he needed was for one of the gangs to attack him while he made his way through their territory. Tim didn't have it in him to win a fight right now.

There was a nest he and Dick had set up about twelve blocks over. It was deep in Two Face's territory, but Tim had a better chance of getting there than getting back to Batman's territory tonight.

Pulling out his grapple gun and mentally preparing himself for a little more physical exertion, Tim took off across the rooftops. It took Tim almost twenty minutes to get to the nest. Fortunately, none of Two Face's sentries spotted him making his way through their territory.

Tim alighted on the roof of the building that housed the nest. It was an old office building that had been partially collapsed in the Quake. He and Dick had found it while scoping out Two Face's territory a few weeks ago. It looked much less stable than it actually was, so the looters had left it mostly alone.

Tim and Dick had raided all the offices' fridges and kitchens when they found it. They liberated snacks, clean water, and a couple of first aid kits that day along with a couple bags of candy. Tim thought longingly of the bag of cookies he and Nightwing had shared as they made their way through the still unstable building.

Using the somewhat lopsided stairs on the roof access, Tim made his way down three stories to the spot where he and Dick had left a nest of blankets and old couch cushions. They had found the most stable and protect spot in the building and had bunked down the night they found the place. Tim was hoping, a little desperately, that it was still there.

Tim was already starting to disarm his belt when he finally caught sight of the little sleep nest they had built. The blankets were still piled high and looked dry and warm. As Tim got a little closer, he saw Dick already curled up in them.

Dick stirred as Tim got closer and sat up to look at Tim.

"Hey, little brother. Tough patrol?" Dick asked. “You look beat.”

"It wasn't a great. I rescued a couple of kids from the Scarecrow's gang. I found a stash of canned tuna that I gave to a family with a couple of kids, but I have a sinking feeling those can’s will just find their way to Penguin's coffers, though..."

"Doesn't everything?" Dick asked wryly.

Dick was still mostly in uniform. He was wearing his suit pants, but he had taken off his armored top, mask and boots. It was too cold to remove their uniforms fully this time of year. There were deep smudges of purple under his eyes, making his sleep deprivation and dehydration more obvious than ever against his soft, pale skin.

Tim gave Dick what he hoped was a game smile as he kicked off his own boots and pulled his own armored tunic up over his head.

"One day, we should try to raid that place," Tim said. "Just think of what we could get."

"Mmmmm, now there's a good thought," Dick said dreamily, patting the spot next to him in the nest of blankets.

Tim hesitated for a just a moment before the desire for warmth beat out his instinct to keep his physical distance. He climbed into the nest and Dick pulled him in close, wrapping a warm arm around Tim's chilled shoulders.

"I keep having fantasies about the bags and bags of marshmallows I have convinced myself he has."

"And heat. He has heat over there. Just think, we could put those marshmallows in some hot chocolate. Make s'mores over his space heaters..."

"That sounds amazing," Tim groaned, and pressed his face into the warm, only slightly musty couch cushions on the floor of the office.

"Yeah," Dick sighed. "I need calories enough that even I'd eat a whole bag of marshmallows right along with you."

"Marshmallows are amazing!" Tim said on a dreamy sigh.

"If you say so, little brother," Dick said, a smile in his voice.

"I do," Tim said insistently.

"I wish I had something to give you now. Even if it isn’t marshmallows, I want to feed you as much as you can eat," Dick said, his voice turning serious as he pulled TIm into a closer hug. "I don't have anything on me at all."

"It's fine," Tim said comfortingly. "It's so cold that I'm not even hungry anymore. I just want to sleep."

As if to prove him a liar, Tim's stomach and growled loudly.

Dick turned to face Tim and lifted an eyebrow.

"Not hungry, huh?" Dick asked and Tim could tell he meant his voice to sound light and teasing, but Tim could hear the tension in it.

Tim shrugged and looked away from Dick's face.

"I'll manage," Tim said.

Dick sighed and gave Tim’s shoulders a gentle squeeze.

"When this is all over, I'll feed you all the marshmallows you can eat, I promise," Dick said, seriously. "We'll have a ten course meal, four of which will be marshmallow based, just for you."

"I suspect Alfred would object to that."

"Kiddo, if Alfred could see how skinny you are right now, he'd made every course out of marshmallows," Dick insisted.

"I'm not totally sure I can get behind marshmallow soup..." Tim mused, pressing his face against the warmth of Dick's shoulder. Dick smelled like sweat and spray paint. He must have increased their territory somewhere and spent time that day marking out the new lines with the spray paint cans.

"I find that very hard to believe," Dick said.

Tim huffed out a soft laugh and threw an arm over Dick's chest.

"I'm glad you were here when I got here," Tim said. "It's a lot easier to distract myself when you're around to talk to. It feels like it’s been even colder the past few days. I wasn't looking forward to falling asleep alone tonight. "

"Me neither, little brother," Dick said. "I'm glad you're here too. And not just for the shared body warmth."

Tim hummed in agreement and moved his legs in a rhythmic motion under the covers to chaff some extra warmth into their nest.

"It'll be summer soon, right?" Dick said, optimistically.

Tim sighed, softly and shook his head.

"I'm hoping that all of this will be over by then," Tim said seriously.

"You think so?" Dick asked, hesitantly.

Tim propped himself up just enough to catch a glimpse of Dick's face in the darkened shadows of the destroyed office building. There was hope in his face but it was tinged in doubt. 

"I think that in the next few months, either the government will come back in or Bruce will round us all up and leave..." Tim said in a quiet sort of voice.

Dick was quiet for a long minute, thinking about what Tim said.

"You know Bruce wouldn't leave all of these people behind," Dick said to Tim. Loyal to Bruce, as always.

"I think..." Tim sighed, trying to come up with a positive way to spin what he was thinking and utterly failing. "I think eventually all these people won't be here.”

“What does that mean?” Dick asked, voice tense.

“I mean, either because of aftershocks from the Quake, systemic violence or some type of outbreak of a disease that comes with lack of plumbing and electricity..."

Dick went still next to Tim, he even stopped breathing as Tim spoke, so Tim broke off. He didn't want to say any more or describe any of the other nightmare scenarios that seemed likely to him.

"But, who knows," Tim said, trying to keep his voice light. "We've been lucky so far--"

Dick cut Tim off with a bitter laugh.

"This is luck?" Dick asked, gesturing expansively to their falling down office building, nest of ratty blankets and the somewhat damp couch cushions.

"We're alive," Tim insisted. "We're alive and we're reasonably healthy. We're still able to help people. For now... that's enough. Let’s just… focus on that."

Dick got quiet again and nodded slowly.

"I guess I can see that. We are lucky none of us has been hurt worse than we have..."

"That's the spirit," Tim teased and Dick smiled down at him.

Despite the dark circles that ringed his eyes and the hunger that made his face tight and lean, Dick's smile was still the most beautiful thing Tim had ever seen.

Forgetting the cold, and the hunger, and the way the wind made the unstable building in which they were squatting sway slightly from side to side, Tim reveled in that smile.

"We're gonna be just fine," Tim found himself promising to Dick.

"I know we will," Dick said. "We have each other. There's nothing the two of us can't do when we put our minds to it, right?"

"Robin Power," Tim teased, trying to keep the quaver out of his voice.

Dick laughed at the joke, tilting his head back and closing his eyes as he let the laughter roll through him. Tim liked the feeling of laugh rumbling through Dick's chest while they were pressed together.

Tim was still trying to memorize the sensation when Dick leaned down and pressed a soft kiss to Tim's temple, a smile still on his lips.

Startled, Tim felt a warm, liquid heat flow through him and pool in the pit of his stomach. Trying to fight down the hot flush that rushed through him, Tim titled his head back to look into Dick's eyes.

Something like what the was feeling was apparently clear in his face because Dick watched him thoughtfully. Meeting Dick’s eyes, Tim felt a thick nervousness pulsing through his chest. Dick blinked and looked away, shaking his head and smiling wryly to himself. 

"Alright, this is no time for deep philosophical discussions," Dick teased. "We need to get some sleep."

"You started it," Tim couldn't help but point out.

"Yeah but I'm gonna need eight hours of sleep and about a thousand calories before I can focus on anything that isn’t happening right here and now, so let's table this discussion for later."

"Consider it tabled," Tim said.

They settled back into the nest of blankets and sleeping bags and Tim eventually caught the rhythm of Dick's breathing and matched it. They both fell asleep far faster than Tim had expected to.

Tim drifted off to the sound of Dick's soft breathing and dreamed of summer.


End file.
